How the Sixes Became Mr. and Mrs.: Bachelorette Shenanigans

After a hectic day at work and dinner/gifts with my newly-arrived fam, I woke up the next morning and hit the ground running. I grabbed my sister from the hotel at 8:00 AM, and we assembled bouquets (more to come on that debacle), packed our PARTAY stuff, and picked up the rental van. I got my parents situated at my apartment: my mom was working on assembling favors, my dad was there to take care of Mae, and Benjamin was on his way to his own bachelor party in a few hours. In the madness, I hadn’t had a chance to make the rosemary simple syrup for the signature cocktails, so Ben graciously offered to take care of it. The cocktail signs at our wedding really should have said “hand-crafted by the GROOM” because he gets sole credit. Pro-tip: Don’t underestimate the amount of work these tasks require. Poor Ben.

My sister and I had to leave for the city midday, as we had a 45-minute drive into Chicago to get one of my girlfriends who had arrived the previous night before heading to Milwaukee. We were running about an hour behind at this point, which meant we were going to miss our first brewery tour. I allowed myself a little time to mourn/melt down (as I had tried SO HARD to not run late), and then I got over it. The Mars Cheese Castle helped.

If this appears to be a random-ass, castle-shaped cheese store in the middle of nowhere, that’s because it is. Also known as: one of my favorite places ever.

Wisconsin-y snacks procured, we amended the plans to check into the Kimpton Journeyman (AKA cutest hotel of all time), pick up the rest of the girls, have a quick drink at the hotel’s happy hour, and then head out to a pub/”cheese bar” for a beer before our tour at Lakefront Brewery. And that’s what we did.

The Magnificent Seven

As we ended up running late AGAIN, Lakefront graciously moved us to the 7:00 PM tour upon our arrival, so we had time to have some samples. And pretzels. And cheese curds.

Lakefront is one of those “edgier” breweries that is a little more in-your-face on their tours, which made it perfect for a slightly tipsy bachelorette party. At the end, I was crowned “Bung Queen.” The tour guide made me touch bungs with him.

After the brewery, we had a hammered lovely dinner at Onesto, and then nightcaps at our hotel bar. Debauchery ensued.

We were still at Lakefront here…yikes.

At one point, we were being heavily ogled by a nearby patron. It was reminiscent of the terrible, pseudo-sexy liqueur commercials of the early 2000s…and that is how “Disaronno” became both a noun (creep) and a verb (being creeped on); e.g., “we’re being Disaronnoed* right now!”

Somehow we made it to bed. The next morning involved a lot of coffee and a hungover drive back to the city. No time to rest, though, as we had the rehearsal to prepare for that evening! Regardless, I am so grateful to these ladies for making this one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had.

Six’s Advice: I loved having my bachelorette adjacent to my wedding weekend, but if you choose this route, know that you’ll be running on mostly adrenaline for the next 72 hours. #worthit